Occult Horror Fantasy

In back alleys and hellholes across the world, ravaged souls and scarred warriors whisper of the Iron Tournament. A savage game of death, pitting living fighters against caged spirits, all for the amusement of a mysterious audience.

Librarian-witch Jane Madison has been invited to join the prestigious Washington Coven - a necessary step, if she’s going to hold onto her feline familiar, her beloved arcane books, and her sexy warder, David Montrose. As the Coven’s tests become more challenging, though, Jane must decide if she can trust her new witchy friend, Haylee. And then there’s that handsome Brit, Graeme Henderson, who is proving to be most distracting...Jane is about to be tested in ways she’s never imagined - and, pass or fail, nothing will ever be the same!

When you look into the abyss...the abyss looks into you. After dumping the body of a serial killer on my former boss’s desk, I handed in my cop badge, which I’ve replaced with an FBI badge. Yep, I’m a Fed. I work for Special Affairs, a clandestine department tasked with policing the occult underground. In the meantime, my personal life is a disaster zone. There’s a Yakuza boss who wants to kill me, and my crazy Hellicorn is going through an existential crisis. But it’s the evil warlock who is making my life a living nightmare.

Grant Palmer spends his days in an expensive suit and tie, funding charitable works for his family’s foundation. His nights are reserved for patrolling the small city of Asheville and the bordering mountainside in an effort to protect residents from rogue vampires. Why? He has his own collection of kills to atone for from his own days as a rebellious, bloodthirsty killer.

Framed for a casino massacre, Harmony and Jessie are on the run - in the real world and in their own. From the seedy casinos of Atlantic City to the steamy bayous of Louisiana and the imposing facades of Washington, DC, there's not a soul on earth they can trust. The only way they can clear their names is to take down the conspiracy from within and uncover the truth behind a secret that both the government and the powers of hell want to keep buried.

From astronauts in deep space to the ghosts of the Civil War, New York Times best-selling author Alethea Kontis creates worlds of wonder and delight, of weirdness and despair, of whimsy and darkness. Here are 20 stories and poems that will transport you to the magical dangerous worlds you've always known should exist, but have never quite been able to find.

In the darkest part of the solar system lies a wormhole. Nether. Astrophysicist Cammie Skoura has joined the first research team traveling to the Nether anomaly, eager to understand the mechanics of the wormhole and to explore its possibilities as a shortcut to Alpha Centauri. But another race of ancient beings has already been here—an impossibly long time ago—leaving remnants of their vast complexes and gigantic temples built for horrific beings beyond comprehension.

Cassandra Collins is forced to make a choice. She can do what she's told and have a safe, protected life. Or she can strike out on her own and make her own way. Cassandra chooses the easy path and regrets it her whole life. Until she dies and wakes up in her 18-year-old body, on the cusp of that same decision.

A young woman is murdered in Middle Falls, Oregon in 1952. The police never make an arrest, but the town convicts Ned Summers of the crime anyway. He banishes himself to a small house in the woods where he lives alone for the rest of his life. When he dies, he opens his eyes back in 1952, just a few days before the murder occurred. Can Ned Summers stop the murder and save his friend?

With her vintage clothing store taking off, Lily Ivory is finding that life in San Francisco suits her just fine. But her ability to sense vibrations from the past, so useful in locating secondhand gems, has landed her in the middle of a new mystery.... Lily gets called away from Aunt Cora's Closet when the police need a witch's take on a strange case. Malachi Zazi was stabbed to death in his apartment.

Jacqueline Carey is the New York Times best-selling author of the award-winning Kushiel's Legacy series. Dark Currents introduces Daisy Johanssen, a hell-spawn living in a Mid-west resort town that also boasts fairies, vampires, and a Norse goddess. As police department liaison for the paranormal, Daisy takes notice when a drowning victim shows signs of eldritch involvement. Paired with officer - and werewolf - Cody Fairfax, she must solve the case before tourist season is ruined.

When Lily arrives at an antique jewelry fair, her bargain sensors go off left and right - but she also picks up a faint vibration of magic. Could the hard-bargaining merchant Griselda be a fellow practitioner? It certainly seems that way when a sudden fire sends panic through the crowd, and Lily discovers Griselda murdered in a way that nods to an old-fashioned witch hunt. A crime that hits close to home turns into an unwelcome flash from the past when the police bring in their lead suspect - Lily's estranged father.

Lily would like nothing better than to relax, enjoy her friends, and take care of business at her store, which is booming thanks to San Francisco's upcoming Summer of Love Festival. But as the unofficial witchy consultant to the SFPD, she is pulled into yet another case.

As soon as Lily opens her recently purchased trunk of old clothes, she feels strange vibrations emanating from a mysterious velvet cloak. When she tries it on, Lily sees awful visions from the past. And when the antiques dealer who sold her the cape is killed, Lily suspects a supernatural force might be behind his death. Then Lily's familiar, Oscar the potbellied pig, disappears. Lily will do anything to get him back - including battling the spirit of a powerful witch reaching out from the past.

The Enchanted Village is abuzz when the old Tavistock house finally goes up for sale. Darcy's friend, Curecrafter Cherise Goodwin, is hoping she will have the winning bid on the home, but Darcy can't shake the feeling that something bad is about to happen - and her magical instincts are usually right.

Taking a night off from running her successful San Francisco clothing store, Lily attends a local art deco ball where vintage fashions steal the show. But when a young woman at the event falls under a mysterious sleeping sickness, Lily senses that a curse was placed on the woman's corsage. Before Lily can solve the woman's magical ailment, she's asked to assist in investigating a string of poisonings in the Bay Area witchcraft community.

Leah needs space to understand her relentless angst, depression, and drinking problem, so she leaves her high-profile career behind and accepts the inheritance. But from the moment she enters Ravens' Wood, Leah knows something is wrong. Someone, or something, haunts her replica Southern plantation. After several supernatural events in the house, Leah questions her sanity.

When mild-mannered Casey Schwartz wakes up in jail, she has no memory of how she got there. But after her sister Wanda bails her out, Casey has more to deal with than a foggy memory - like abrupt mood swings and fireballs shooting from her fingertips. But things really head south when a vampire shows up on her doorstep.

Harmony Black is much more than your average FBI special agent. In addition to being a practicing witch, she's also an operative for Vigilant Lock, an off-the-books program created to battle occult threats - by any means necessary. Despite her dedication to fighting the monsters threatening society, Harmony has become deeply conflicted about her job. Her last investigation resulted in a pile of dead bodies, and she suspects the wrong people are being punished for it.

Hell awaits for those who deserve it...and those who don’t. So it’s finally happened. I’m going to Hell. Some would argue, including me, that it was inevitable. But I’m not going to Hell to be punished - at least not yet - but to save my daughter’s soul. Wendell Knightsbridge has me over a barrel. If I want to save Callie’s soul, I have to go to Hell for him, and once I’m there, I have to find Lucifer and somehow steal the Devil’s energy to send back to Knightsbridge. I’m sure it’ll be a snap, like taking candy from a baby. Yeah right.